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Middle East Managed “News” Event

By DH on Mar 27, 2008 in Media Relations, News Media, Public Relations

An event called, The Arab Broadcast Forum, is scheduled for early May in Abu Dhabi. It appears to be primarily for those few journalists who have the time luxury to attend such shows.

The agenda seems a bit too plain vanilla and avoids many more important issues that journalists should be focusing their attention on in the Middle East. I’ve added my comments in italics here after their list of agenda items:

- The Media War in Palestine: Are Journalists Safe? (The answer is, No)
- Another Year of Conflict: Covering Iran. (No one credibly covers Iran, and chances are that no one will.)
- The Art of Elections: US Elections and the Arab World. Produced by CNN International. (Yawn …)
- Reporting on Oil: Moving the Markets. Produced by Ebsar Holding. (Oil prices - controlled by a cartel — are up. End of story.)
- The Displaced Masses: Reporting on Refugees in the Arab World. Produced by VideoCairo Sat. (Talk with leaders of Arab countries.)
- Utilizing the Power of TV Drama. Produced by Abu Dhabi TV. (Watch any CNN newscast for cheap drama.)
- Reliable Media Resource? Content from NGOs. Produced by Reuters TV (You’re kidding?!)
- The Arab League Media Charter. Produced by LBC. (The acronym, not explained, either means Louisiana Baptist Churches or Lebanese Broadcasting Company.)

The more important, timely and certainly more meaningful issues that will test the moral fiber of journalists and news organizations in the Middle East are obviously missing from the conference agenda: Terrorism. Coverage of Human Rights, Women’s Rights and Religious Freedom. By avoiding those issues, I can only assume the conference is just another PR stunt.

5 Comment(s)

  1. On Mar 29, 2008, Jim Gold said:

    Dear Mr. Henderson,

    I thank you for drawing attention to the agenda of the Arab Broadcast Forum, even if we may disagree on the validity of the topics.

    Firstly, I’d like to offer background information on ABF. We are a not-for-profit event that was created to encourage open and honest debate amongst broadcasters in the Arab world. In just two years, we now attract more than 300 top broadcast news executives from the Arab world and beyond (more than 35 countries were represented last year), and the quality of debate has been unprecedented in the region.

    2008 represents the third annual conference. Therefore, we have already discussed many of the issues you suggest we need to discuss. Additionally, I cannot stress strongly enough that this is not a PR initiative. The agenda was created by our Editorial Board, which consists of senior executives and journalists from the following organizations to enhance understanding about and amongst the Arab broadcast news industry:

    Al Jazeera
    Al Arabiya
    Abu Dhabi TV
    AP Television News
    Arab American Institute
    BBC World Service Arabic
    LBC (yes, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation)
    Video Cairo Sat
    Fox News
    Reuters TV
    Deutsche Welle
    ERTU (Egyptian TV)
    Palestine News Network

    These are the broadcasters who helped create and shape the agenda — and this is a group that has a pulse on what issues need to be discussed by the Arab broadcast news industry. Additionally, the entire event is broadcast live by both Abu Dhabi TV and Al Jazeera Mubashar (Al Jazeera network’s C-SPAN equivalent). Portions also air on LBC, Al Arabiya and BBC World Service.

    I cordially invite you to attend this year’s event. I’m sure it would prove to be an eye-opening experience for you. As both a public relations expert and an award winning former network news reporter, I would think that you and the readers of your blog would be better served to observe ABF before passing judgment. Please feel free to contact me or my colleagues if you would like more information. I am also happy to discuss aspects of the event and the agenda with your readers.

    Jim Gold
    Managing Director
    Arab Broadcast Forum

  2. On Mar 30, 2008, David Henderson said:

    Appreciate your comments but would you please address the last paragraph of my posting?

  3. On Apr 8, 2008, Jim Gold said:

    Regarding the last paragraph of your posting, you can find that we’ve tackled a number of these issues in previous conferences.

    2007 Agenda available at: http://www.abfonline.net/en/agenda2007.html

    2006 Agenda available at:
    http://www.abfonline.net/en/agenda2006.html

    At ABF, we try to raise the journalistic standards in the region and help promote a better understanding of Arab and so-called western media.

    We will (and do) discuss how to cover terrorism, women’s issues, Democracy, religious issues, et al.

  4. On Jun 12, 2008, gibson said:

    Here’s a mind-boggling piece of news coverage from the Middle East ;) http://censeo.cc/2008/06/irans-new-voice-inspired-by-martin-luther-king-gandhi-and-jfk/

  5. On Jun 14, 2008, DH said:

    Good grief! Thanks for sharing.

    David

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